


Collapsing Stars

by flecksofpoppy



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Ficlet, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-05
Updated: 2011-11-05
Packaged: 2017-10-25 17:44:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/273039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flecksofpoppy/pseuds/flecksofpoppy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The stars seem different after Black Materia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Collapsing Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deadcellredux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadcellredux/gifts).



> For my "uncommon pairings" prompt request.

Cid loves space. He fills it up with curses and hot breath and cigarette smoke. He stares at the sky enough that Cloud can't help following his gaze to the clouds.

Cloud used to stare at clouds; the irony was not lost on him. And when he became a teenager, looked at girls like Tifa in the street, even on the ground everything was a diaphanous shape: fire, women, dreams.

Cloud says he has friends. He says that he remembers reality now, but sometimes, in his innermost mind that is _his_ , he wishes he didn't.

He wishes he didn't remember a well, a deep precipice that he looked into as he spoke to Tifa, told her he'd take care of her, told her what he thought he could give her; he looks into the dark, he looks into the unknown black, and wonders.

Cid loves space. He fills it up with hard hands against skin and wonderful colorful curses against the wall of the Highwind; he tells Cloud into his ear that he loves the way he feels. He asks if he wants a cigarette after. He asks he's up to this final battle.

Cloud asks Cid if he's ever considered quitting smoking, since, " _It will kill you._ "

Cid laughs and tells him he better keep that fucking sword handy, then says, "Hey kid, let's just get through this alive."

Cloud just smiles. He feels the empty space, the crush and the freedom, the metal and the _hope_ beyond the world that Jenova has tried to occupy and conquer, and he smiles.

Cid looks at maps of constellations after Meteor fucks it all up. The stars seem different after Black Materia.

Later, in a changed world, he looks at the floor, smokes a shitty cigarette, and tries to smile.

The stars are broken, and he crushes his cigarette under a boot, resenting fate more than he ever did Shinra. He sees it fractured in the reflection of his tea--stars broken, clouds never forming any pattern he'd expected.

Shera loves him. He loves her, but he doesn't remember what it's like to be a young man with hope.

So he meets Cloud in Edge, and they determine fate together, bent over a bar, panting and huffing with tears as close as night, _"Tell me the future again._


End file.
